


three words to describe

by lovehugsandcandy



Category: Duskwood (Everbyte Video Game)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-13
Updated: 2020-10-13
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:02:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26992588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovehugsandcandy/pseuds/lovehugsandcandy
Summary: Annie wants to know how Jake would describe himself.
Relationships: Jake/MC
Comments: 6
Kudos: 55





	three words to describe

**Author's Note:**

> my Duskwood tumblr is lovehugsandhackers... because apparently I am not clever (and I love my hackerboy, even though I also mack with Jessy every single time, even though I say I won't, cuz she is just so damn cute)

_What are three words to describe you?_

Jake stared at the chat box, eyebrows furrowed, and cocked his head before inputting a terse reply.

_What?_

He blinked, waiting as Annie typed, erased, typed some more.

_You’ve already told me your name. That you have black hair. About your family._

_I want to know how you would describe yourself._

He blinked. Apparently, he took too long as she continued.

_Come on. Three words._

_Fine_. He bit his lip. _Careful. Solitary. Cautious._

Her reply was immediate. _WHAT?!?! Come ON! That’s not fair._

_What?_

_Careful and cautious mean the same thing! That’s cheating!!_

He laughed. Once, the sound had been unfamiliar, cheer rarely filtering its way into this darkened room, his life. Now, it was a daily occurrence, even more often; she could draw emotions and feelings he had convinced himself he lost, joy solely a province of the past and not the stressful life on the run he endured day after day.

_Fine. Careful, solitary, methodical._

He waited, longer than he thought necessary, and finally, the reply blinked into existence. 

_Yeah. That tracks._

He tried not to smile, he really did, but his lips quirked up despite himself. _What are yours?_

_Mine?_

_The three words to describe you?_

_Hmm…_

He already knew the words he would use. Smart. Trusted. Witty. Exuberant. Gorgeous. Brilliant. Unpredictable. Innate ability to take his breath away.

_I guess I’m… Empathetic._

_Capable._

_And quirky._

His fingers moved faster than his brain. _Yeah. That tracks._

_HAHAHA!_

_:)_

The cursor blinked, and he fixated on the screen as she typed, then erased. Typed. Then erased some more. Finally, she sent one word.

_Jake?_

_Yeah, Annie?_

_I… I’m scared. That’s probably the fourth word._

He sighed, loud over the hum of multiple laptops and the router underneath his feet. They had been getting closer to Hannah, but every turn, every step, had led them deeper into a twisted, terrifying maze. 

Usually he would reassure her, tell her she had nothing to worry about but, under the blinking lights of the monitor and the steady stream of shrill car horns and rumbling trains outside, he didn’t have the heart for yet another deception. His heart ached as he typed.

_I am, too._

~~~~~

“Jake?”

Her voice was quiet over the phone, and he concentrated to comprehend the sleepy drawl. “Yeah?”

“What are three words to describe you?”

“We already did this.”

“I know.” The phone line scratched as she shifted against starched sheets. Annie had been in Duskwood a day, 24 hours of investigating and searching, and he felt panic snaking through his veins every single second. “Mine are different now.”

“What are they?”

She yawned. “Tired, exhausted, and tired.”

“That’s cheating.”

“Oh, now you care about the rules?”

“Touché.” He smiled at the teasing warmth in her voice.

“What are yours?”

“Cautious. Methodical.” _And hopelessly in love with you._

“And solitary?” she prompted.

“No, not anymore.” He hadn’t felt alone in some time, her words a comfort even from afar. “I guess… happy?” The word tasted foreign in his mouth.

“Happy?” she scoffed. “Seriously? A masked vigilante is stalking our friends, your sister is still missing, and you’re happy?”

He looked out his nondescript window. At least in this hideaway, there was a view, palm trees dancing in the breeze and unending teal waves glinting in the brilliant sun. Sure, this island wasn’t deserted, but it had power, and an overall strong Wifi signal. It was only missing one thing.

On the other side of the world, he pictured her, sleepy grin on her face as she sprawled in bed, darkness enveloping Duskwood. Whereas the woods outside her window would be ominous, foreboding, she was safe in the dead-bolted room (he checked, multiple times, to ensure her safety) and they were _so_ close to Hannah. He could sense it.

“I prefer to take my happiness where I can find it.”

Her breathing was slowing, deepening, as she murmured, “That’s a good idea. Maybe I will do that.”

“Do,” he whispered. “Good night, Annie.”

“Good night, Jake.”

~~~~~

Jake steadily watched the trace blink closer, waiting until she turned left onto 5th Ave before making the call. He had timed this, calculations precise and to the second, taking into account the rush of pedestrians, the stairs, even the glare of sunlight against skyscrapers slowing the traffic.

He pressed send on the familiar number and waited three rings, until she picked up, breathless amidst the chatter of people.

“Three words to describe me.” He winced as his words were jumbled, rushed, unintelligible through his anxiety. Next time, he would need to factor in his verbal awkwardness into his careful plans.

“What?!?”

He took a deep breath. “I want to tell you the three words that describe me right now.”

“I thought you hated this game but ok. Go ahead.”

“Nervous.”

“Wait, what? Nervous? Why? Are you ok?” She knew of his recent chaotic travel, Sao Paulo to Hanoi, then a tiny island in Indonesia followed by dual flight plans to Mumbai and Stockholm, digital trail cryptic and convoluted, a web of data and lies that bought him enough time to stand here, heart in his throat, in this drab apartment building hallway.

“I’m fine, I am.” He swallowed, unable to stop the tremor in his voice. “I’m nervous. And hopeful.”

“Ok.” He heard the exterior slam behind her, footsteps echoing in the concrete stairwell. He waited until the doorknob turned, door opening to reveal the shape previously seen only in dreams, and then he spoke. “And the third word... is here.”

She looked up.

And he froze.

He thought he was prepared.

He knew what she looked like; what kind of hacker would he be if he didn’t scrape social sites, finding and devouring any images he got his hands on? He had seen her smiling, beaming into the camera with the purple hues of the sunset framing her face in an effervescent glow. He had seen her in profile, hands clasped around a cappuccino, every other patron of the coffee shop fading into the background amid the slope of her nose, the freckle by her eye. He had seen her studying, books and pens strewn haphazard on a desk, and mid-laugh as a Golden Retriever licked exuberantly on her cheek, and even on a few secretive video calls, mere minutes of connection that got him through entire nights of planning.

But he wasn’t prepared to see her in real life, wasn’t prepared for her eyes to meet his, for the lightning that jump-started his heart. Jake was a man of data, code and numbers speaking deeper to him than any words or emotion.

But he had felt nothing like this, cheeks reddening as her lips curved into a slow smile, mouth falling open as she started sprinting down the hall, a streak of swinging hair and delighted laughter and utter happiness.

He fumbled with the phone, barely dropping it in his pocket before her arms flew around his neck. She was warm in his embrace, pulling him tight, crushing her lips to his in a frantic greeting he had dreamed of, longed for, since she worked her way past digital defenses and psychological walls, words and texts and _her_ filling a space that technology and computers and code couldn’t touch.

“Jake?” Her lips curved into a smile against his, and the words sank warm down his spine. “Now, I’m happy.”


End file.
